Wednesday, October 23, 1996

Marino back, JJ ready for Cowboys
By STEVEN WINE
Associated Press
(Oct. 23, 1996)

DAVIE, Fla. - Not that the hype needs help, but Miami Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson sought Monday to downplay his long-awaited showdown against the Dallas Cowboys.

Johnson did have a bit of bad news for his former team, however: Dan Marino will start Sunday for the first time since breaking his right ankle Sept. 23.

"Without question, having him back in the lineup gives us a big morale boost," Johnson said. "And we'd expect a productivity boost."

Johnson wants all the weapons he can summon against the Super Bowl champions, who will come to Miami eager to beat their former coach. Although the game features a pair of third-place teams with 4-3 records, it may be the marquee matchup of the regular season because of its soap-opera ingredients.

Johnson is facing the Cowboys for the first time since leading them to two Super Bowl titles before being fired by owner Jerry Jones. The two men have traded barbs for two years since, as have Johnson and his successor in Dallas, Barry Switzer.

None of that, however, was deemed a suitable topic of conversation Monday by Johnson.
"That's really a distraction for our team," he said. "I don't think it has anything to do with the game.
Our focus will be on our team getting ready for their team, and I won't address anything else."

Win or lose, Johnson said, the game will be less important to the Dolphins than their 21-7 victory at AFC East rival Buffalo a week ago.

"The Buffalo game has more significance to it," Johnson said. "I don't want to downplay this game - we need to win this week. But Buffalo is one of our competitors in our division and has more
implications than an NFC game."

Keep in mind that Johnson doesn't need to promote Sunday's showdown because it has been soldout since July.

"There's no downplaying it," said Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar, who was with Johnson in Dallas. "It's important to him."

It's also important to the Cowboys.

"I have ties with Dallas, but I'm not playing," Johnson said. "The players in Dallas have ties with me, and they're playing. The game has more of a psychological lift for them than us as far as the emotion part."

But Miami is bound to get a boost from the return of Marino. While replacement Craig Erickson played well, the Dolphins went only 1-2 in the games he started. They also lost the game in which Marino was hurt.

Marino returned to practice last week and will take the majority of the snaps beginning today.
"I'm looking forward to coming back and playing and being able to contribute any way I can," he said.

Johnson was unhappy about his defense in Sunday's 35-28 loss at Philadelphia, but he remains pleased with his young team's overall progress.

"If you said prior to the season that Dan Marino is going to miss four games and you're going to start six rookies, you'd say, 'Boy, are we going to be able to win a game?' " Johnson said.
"I think we're further along than we would have thought prior to the season. But we still have a long way to go."

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